Manchester Crimewatch: City man says he was in jail and could not appear in court

MANCHESTER — Jacob Valley, 19, of 4 Bethel Court, was in Circuit Court-Manchester District Division Friday on an electronic bench warrant from Hooksett District Division issued after he failed to appear in that court on a willful concealment charge.

But Valley protested, saying he wasn’t trying to avoid court in Hooksett. He had a plea agreement with prosecutors. “I would have gone if I wasn’t incarcerated,” he said, telling Judge William Lyons that he is being held in the Valley Street Jail.

The police prosecutor requested the $500 cash/surety bail on the Hooksett warrant, but Lyons set bail at $100 cash/surety. Valley is scheduled to appear in Hooksett on Monday.

Stolen property charges

Tyler Fitzgerald, 28, of 164 Main St., Westford, Mass., was arraigned on seven misdemeanor charges of receiving stolen property and six of theft by deception. He asked Lyons for personal recognizance bail, saying: “I have a 40-hour week job.”

But police prosecutor Sgt. Stephen Reardon requested $5,000 cash/surety bail, saying Fitzgerald has a seven-page criminal record. He said Fitzgerald was brought to court from the Belknap County Jail and faces a burglary charge in Merrimack County Superior Court.

Fitzgerald asked Lyons for personal recognizance bail, saying: “I would come back (to court).” Lyons set bail at $3,000 cash/surety, with conditions barring contact with the alleged theft victims and barring Fitzgerald from a music store, several pawn shops and a metals firm where he allegedly sold stolen items. Trial was set for May 8.

Burglary charge

Bail on a burglary charge was continued at $2,000 personal recognizance for Linda Withington on Friday in Circuit Court-Manchester District Division.

Withington, 64, of 275 Meadow Fox Lane, Chester, could enter no plea to the felony, which alleges she entered the Concord Street residence of her ex-boyfriend Thursday and took a guitar off the wall and tried to steal the man’s phone.

Bail conditions bar Withington from the Concord Street address and bar her from contact with the victim.

Because no plea can be entered to a felony in Circuit Court, a probable cause hearing was set for April 30.

Advised to consult lawyer

Reardon on Friday told a Circuit Court-Manchester District Division judge that a defendant wanted to plead guilty, but there has been a competency issue raised in the past.

Reardon said he recommended that Justin Robles, 23, of 467 Beech St., speak with an attorney before entering a plea to a misdemeanor charge of theft by unauthorized taking.

Robles, who is accused of taking about $25 worth of items from the Hannaford supermarket, 859 Hanover St., in September 2013, had failed to appear in court.

“I’m taking care of everything I need to take care of,” Robles told Judge William Lyons. Robles said he is on personal recognizance bail on Rockingham County charges and is trying to straighten things out. “I’m having a baby in May,” he said.

Reardon said Robles was originally released on a hand summons on the Hannaford theft charge, but when he failed to appear in court, an electronic bench warrant was issued with a $350 cash-only bail. Judge William Lyons set bail at $350 cash/surety, as requested by the prosecutor. Trial was set for May 8.

Criminal mischief charge

Raymond Nolan, 22, of 49B Union St., pleaded guilty Friday to a criminal mischief charge that alleges he became so angry when a neighbor confronted him about closing a hallway door that he smashed the neighbor’s 2-by-2-foot window.

The plea agreement called for a six-month jail sentence, all suspended for two years of good behavior, and $200 in restitution, plus an administrative fee, paid through the Probation Department.